Gaming machines, such as slot machines, video poker machines and the like, have been a cornerstone of the gaming industry for several years. Generally, the popularity of such machines with players is dependent on the likelihood (or perceived likelihood) of winning money at the machine and the intrinsic entertainment value of the machine relative to other available gaming options. Where the available gaming options include a number of competing machines and the expectation of winning each machine is roughly the same (or believed to be the same), players are most likely to be attracted to the most entertaining and exciting of the machines. Shrewd operators consequently strive to employ the most entertaining and exciting machines available because such machines attract frequent play and hence increase profitability to the operator. Accordingly, in the competitive gaming machine industry, there is a continuing need for gaming machine manufacturers to produce new types of games, or enhancements to existing games, which will attract frequent play by enhancing the entertainment value and excitement associated with the game.
A feature employed in some prior games is a bonus accumulator that accumulates points based on predetermined criteria. For example, a prior game entitled “Piggy Bankin'” includes three symbol-bearing reels and a bonus accumulator in the form of a piggy bank. In response to a wager, the reels are spun and stopped to place symbols on the reels in visual association with a pay line. For each spin resulting in three blanks along the pay line, the piggy bank is incremented by the wager amount. For a spin resulting in a “Break the Bank” symbol on the third reel, the player is awarded the accumulated total in the piggy bank. In another example, a prior game entitled “Boom” includes a plurality of symbol-bearing reels and a bonus accumulator in the form of a firecracker register. In response to a wager, the reels are spun and stopped to place symbols on the reels in visual association with multiple pay lines. A firecracker mark is added to the firecracker register for every 25 credits wagered. Each firecracker mark is worth one credit. The player is awarded a firecracker bonus equal to the number of firecracker marks in the firecracker register when either (1) the firecracker register reaches fifty firecracker marks, or (2) a spin results in two “wild match” symbols anywhere on the display.
Although such prior games are generally entertaining, the bonus accumulator suffers from a couple shortcomings. First, to redeem any bonus points accumulated in the bonus accumulator, a player must continue to wager and play the game until accomplishing an infrequent predetermined event that triggers the redemption of bonus points. If the player must walk away from the gaming machine for some reason, e.g., the player runs out of money, the player may be frustrated by his/her forfeiture of the bonus points which now remain in the bonus accumulator for redemption by a subsequent player. Second, because players may walk away before redeeming the accumulated bonus points, people looking to play a game with a bonus accumulator may scout for and hover around those machines with greater bonus points in the bonus accumulator.
A need therefore exists for a bonus accumulator that overcomes the above-noted shortcomings of the bonus accumulator employed in prior games.